Titanfall: Pilots
by Brinkster117
Summary: The newest group of pilots in the IMC have just completed basic and are eager to head out to the Frontier, some to fight, others to see old friends who moved out there. But for Brian Doughty, Bruce Patnaude, Alex Fields, and Ashley Patterson, things are much different than what they had expected. Life's tough out in the Frontier, and they're about to learn that the hard way.


***Beep* Fucking snipers... I don't own Titanfall.**

"Jacob Reynolds, why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?" Hammond asks.

"To crush the rebellious scum in the Frontier, sir!" The cadet answers with pride.

"Here it is," Brian whispers to his right, towards Bruce and Alex. "We made it past basic. We're pilots now, guys."

"Yeah," Bruce whispers back. "About damn time." A small smirk grows on his lips.

"Jake Mason," Hammond starts as he stops in front of the next cadet. "Why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?"

"To maintain peace and order on the Frontier, sir," The cadet responds.

"We're going to the Frontier!" Alex whispers with small excitement in his voice. "I can't wait!"

Hammond stops in front of another cadet, causing the three to snap back to attention. "Sarah Jackson, why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?" He asks.

"To destroy this so-called 'rebellion' in the Frontier, sir!" She responds with pride.

"Brian," Ashley whispers, "What do I say?"

"Just tell him the reason you joined the IMC," Brian whispers back. "You've made it this far, Ashley."

"Okay..." Ashley whispers back before staring forward in attention.

"...Why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?" Hammond asks Alex.

"To rid this universe of opposing forces who stand before the IMC, sir!" Alex yells.

Hammond nods, then turns and walks in front of Bruce. "Bruce Patnaude, why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?"

"To destroy the Militia, sir!" Bruce says with pride.

He nods, then turns to walk in front of Brian. He turns back, facing Brian directly as he stands there. "Brian Doughty, why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?" He asks.

"Well," Brian starts, "I've always been fond of the Titans that pilots always had, but I don't see myself making a down payment on an Atlas mech anytime soon, sir."

"Hmpt," Hammond responds with a small smirk of amusement before turning to his right and walking in front of Ashley. "And finally; Ashley Patterson, why did you join the IMC Pilot Corps?"

"Honestly, I joined to head out to the Frontier, sir," she says. "I have friends out there and well, this was the cheapest way to head out there."

"Interesting," Hammond says with a small nod. He turns around, walking to the front of the room before facing the cadets again. "Cadets," he starts, "I know these past eight weeks have been the most difficult eight weeks of your life, both physically and psychologically. You have seen some of your colleagues drop out of the training program because it was simply too much for them. But here you are now. You have endured, you have survived, and you have some of the best training any military has to offer. Welcome to the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, Pilots."

As soon as he was done speaking, the monitor behind him flickered to life, displaying a robotic figure on the screen. It looks up to the camera. "Pilots," it starts. "I am the logistics and communications unit, designated: Spyglass. I will be handling deployment, surveillance, mission intelligence, and communications during missions. Although most of you will head out to the Frontier, some of you will stay in the core systems as reserves. When you are dismissed, please move to the second floor of D wing in this facility to select your Titan class. Expect your assignments in less than twenty-four hours. Congratulations on making it this far, pilots." The monitor then shuts off.

"Just as Spyglass said, head over to the second floor of D wing to select your Titan class," Hammond continues. "You will have three choices to choose from: Atlas, Ogre, and Stryder. Afterwards, you are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day. Get some rest; you've deserved it. Dismissed."

All of the cadets simultaneously saluted Hammond before taking one step back and performing an about face. The new pilots then began to walk out the door, one by one as Hammond watches them leave, a small smirk on his face.

* * *

"Out of everywhere we all could have gone," Bruce says as Brian walks up to him and Alex, "we went to a bar?"

"It's not all that bad," Brian replies as he sits on the barstool to Bruce's right. "I mean, it has other things than just alcohol. It has my favorite root beer, so I'm happy."

"Plus, have you seen some of the women here?" Alex asks rhetorically as he pushes himself slightly away from the counter, turning and glancing around the bar. "I don't think I'll be able to contain myself tonight!"

"No!" Brian slightly yells, pointing at him. "Down boy! Heel! Heel!" He has a small grin on his face as he says this, indicating that he is joking.

"Yeah, Alex," Bruce says, "you're suppose to be hanging out with us, and the others who graduated with us."

"Bruce," Alex says as he points behind the three. "Look at that red-head." Both Bruce and Brian look behind themselves, to where Alex was pointing. There was a slim-figured woman with shoulder-length red hair in a small silk dress. She was sitting at a two-seater table by herself with two drinks on either side of the table, glancing around with an uninterested expression on her face. Brian raises an eyebrow at this, then looks over to Bruce, who couldn't help but stare.

"Damn..." Bruce mutters.

"Wouldn't you want to get in her skirt?" Alex asks as he looks at him.

"I would tear the hell out if that thing." Bruce responds, still staring.

"No, Brucie," Brian says, lightly backhanding his arm to grab his attention. "You're already spoken for. Plus, didn't you see the table? There's two drinks on it. She's not alone."

"So?" Alex asks, leaning forward a bit to look at Brian.

"So, she's with someone else."

"It could be a friend," Alex says.

"It could also be a guy she's with," Brian responds.

"Hasn't stopped me before," he says.

"Wow, okay," Brian says as he turns back to the counter and places his arms on it. "Honestly, I'm not surprised at this point."

"Speaking of 'being spoken for,'" Bruce says as he and Alex turn back to the bar counter, "what's up with you and Ashley?"

"What do you mean?" Brian asks, looking at Bruce.

"You two have been inseparable since the second week of basic," he states. "Are you two dating? Did Brian finally find somebody?"

"No," he answers, "we're not. I was looking after her in basic, helping her out when she needed the help."

"So she's free?" Alex asks.

"No." Brian responds, looking at Alex.

"Someone getting defensive?" Alex asks, a small grin growing on his face as he looks at Brian.

"She's an innocent girl," Brian replies. "You do that to her, we are going to have a long talk."

"You sure you two aren't going out?" Bruce asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't know," Brian says sarcastically. "We haven't cuddled yet, she doesn't tell me she loves me, and I don't think I haven't gotten past first base, yet I'm not sure if we're dating or not?"

"Smartass," Bruce replies, chuckling.

"I can hit a home run off the bat," Alex says, leaning on the counter.

"Of course you can," Brian responds as a female bartender with long blond hair walks up to them.

"What can I get you guys?" She asks.

"I'll take a root beer," Brian says, raising one arm up.

"I'll just have a water," Bruce follows up.

"Not going to get your drink on tonight, fellas?" The bartender asks with a raised eyebrow, preparing the drinks.

"We don't drink," Brian replies as the two get their drinks."We're here mainly because we just got past basic; celebrating over the fact that we're all pilots now."

"Well, congratulations" she says before turning to Alex. "Now what will you like?"

"I would like your number," Alex answers with a grin, leaning forward on the counter. "Are you free after your shift?"

"Yes," the bartender starts, "I'm not doing anything after my shift, but no, don't think your new title will get you anywhere with me."

"Oh I see," Alex says, grin growing wider. "Playing hard to get, are we now?"

"Oh please," she replies, rolling her eyes. "I've turned down actual pilots before. What makes you different?"

"I feel slightly offended," Brian says, "but for some reason, I'm also amused. A sight like this rarely happens."

"This is an ironic turn of events for you, Alex," Bruce follows up, chuckling.

"Don't even try to ask as well, you two," she responds, crossing her arms and looking at Bruce and Brian.

"Oh don't worry," Brian replies, "Brucie here is taken, and I usually get to know the person first before I ask for her number."

"Good, keep it that way," she says. "Pilots these days think they can get anything just because they are generally famous for their skills and their flashy Titans. At least I won't have to nail you two above the fireplace tonight."

"Sounds kinky," Alex intervenes, causing the bartender to glare at him.

"If you were some dirt-cheap thug trying to get laid, I would have thrown you out already," she says.

"Now that would be bad for business," Alex replies, grin growing slightly wider as he leans into the counter.

"You're right, smartass," she says, shaking her head lightly. "Now what can I get you to drink? And no, don't buy me one either. I don't need a break, and I don't want one."

"I'll have a-" Alex was interrupted by the sound of glass breaking, grabbing their attention as they look behind themselves.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Ashley apologizes as she steps back, cupping her hands over her mouth with wide eyes.

"Are you BLIND?!" The man abruptly yells as he stands from his seat. "Couldn't you see I was sitting right here?" Brian notices the IMC uniform the man was wearing, then the giant stain on the front of the uniform. He checks the insignia, noticing that it was a Captain.

"Sir, I'm sorry!" She cries out again, taking another step back.

"I try to enjoy my shore leave for the week," he starts in a harsh voice, "and what do I get? Some rude recruit who thinks she can just bump into an off duty Captain while he enjoys a steak with his wife?!"

"Sir, Please!" Ashley cries.

Brian couldn't take anymore of this; he quickly stands from the stool and starts to walk over to the two, leaving the group he was with. The captain notices Brian, then turns to face him.

"And who are you?" He scolds. "Her boyfriend? The 'savior' of the 'damsel-in-distress?' DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!"

"No, sir, I don't," Brian replies as he stops about two feet away from the captain, "but you are out of line here."

The captain stares at Brian with an raised eyebrow. "Me, out of line?" He scoffs, starting to laugh uncontrollably over the statement. "You're a recruit with bad grooming standards arguing with me, Captain Ray Anderson and I'M out of line?" He glances around the bar. "Hear that, everybody? This recruit is telling me that I'm out of line! Isn't that funny?"

"Honey, please," the lady at the table says, causing Brian to glance at her. She was the red-head that Alex pointed out, now with a concerned expression on her face. "Don't cause a scene, Ray."

"Oh I want to cause a scene," Anderson says, staring at Brian angrily. "I want people to watch as this recruit loses his first battle."

"You're not going to win this," Brian starts, "and I'm not bolstering. All she did was accidentally bumped into you, then immediately apologized for it right after. She had no intention of ruining your day with your wife, but you took it out of hand and scolded her for it. You start insulting her, calling her rude and-"

"She is rude!" Anderson interrupts.

"No she is not," Brian responds. "I've known this girl for a few months now and she is anything but rude."

"And how would you know? What do you have to prove your case?"

"Discipline, reasoning," Brian leans closer to Anderson. "Self-control."

"Oh yeah?" Anderson responds. "And you know what I have? Power. I could have you both court-marshaled if I wanted to right now. They may have brought you in here, but I can sure as hell take you out easily."

"It won't be that easy when you don't have a case to argue."

"I don't need a case! You're just a recruit! A recruit! Who needs a case to court-marshal a recruit?"

Brian sighs, shaking his head as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "...Fine, what is it that you want?"

"An apology!" He yells.

"She already apologized," Brian says calmly. "Twice, already."

"I want another one! From the both of you!"

"...I'm sorry," Ashley says almost inaudibly.

"I'm sorry as well," Brian says, looking up at him.

"Good," Anderson replies, grinning slightly with a smug expression. "And shave the beard, recruit. Didn't your mother ever teach you how to groom yourself properly?"

Brian shakes his head, letting out a small grunt of displeasure as he looks over to Ashley. He notices out of the corner of his eye people wearing uniforms similar to his and Ashley's. Glancing over to them, he notices that they were the cadets that graduated with him earlier today, Bruce and Alex included.

"Doughty?" Mason asks in concern.

Brian looks over to Ashley, then to Anderson. "We were just leaving..." He responds before turning to his right and walking towards the exit.

"That's right, walk away!" Anderson yells. "Walk away like the coward you are! Like you ALL are! You're all nothing but poor excuses for soldiers!"

Brian clenches his fist and starts to turn around, but a hand grabbing his shoulder stops him. He looks at the person who placed their hand on his shoulder; it was Ashley.

"It's not worth it, Brian..." She says. "Let him rant all he wants. He's only making a fool of himself."

"Keep walking!" Anderson barks.

"...At least I'm not some incompetent fatass who sits in a chair all day, getting paid for other people's work," Brian mutters as he turns.

"I said keep moving!" Anderson yells.

"Shut up, captain jackass!"

The bartender yells as Brian walks out the door.

"That sonovabitch..." Brian mutters as Ashley stops and turns to face him. "Are you okay, Ashley?"

"I will be," she says as she leans onto him with her arms in between them. "Thank you..."

"I couldn't just stand by as he just yells at you," he says as he hugs her gently. "I look after my friends."

"I know..." She says as she buries her face in his shoulder. "I just wish that it didn't happened..." She lets out a shaky sigh. "I just..."

"It's alright," Brian says as he gently strokes her back. "You did nothing wrong. It was just an accident, Ashley."

"Thank you, Brian..." She whispers almost inaudibly, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"You two okay?" Alex asks as he and Bruce walk up. "I'm surprised you didn't beat the shit out of him, Brian."

"We're fine," Brian replies, looking up at them. Alex smiles at him, giving him a thumbs up. Brian knew exactly what it meant and shook his head, mouthing "No."

"Who was that guy, anyways?" Bruce asks.

"Captain Ray Anderson," Brian says. "He's probably a ship captain for the core systems."

"How come he has a bad temper?"

"Not sure," Brian says as he looks down at Ashley, "but I'm just happy I don't need to see his face again."

"What are we gonna do now?" Jackson asks as she walks up. "We still have a while before we get our assignments, guys."

"Eh, I don't know," Reynolds replies, scratching the back of his head. "But what I want to know is if Patterson and Doughty are still up for anything after that messy incident."

"You guys still want to do something?" Bruce asks.

Brian continues to stroke her back in comfort as he looks up at the cadets. He then looks back down at Ashley before letting out a sigh. "You guys go on ahead without us," he says, "think I'm going to take her back to base."

"You sure, man?" Mason asks. "I mean, yeah, I understand that you guys aren't in the best of moods right now, but don't you think that you could take your mind off that by doing something else?"

"I'm sure," Brian replies. "Lets go, Ashley."

"Alright," she replies, letting go of him and standing up straight. Brian notices her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were shining. He could tell she was trying hard to hold back crying.

"You two take care, now," Bruce says as Brian pulls his keys out of his pockets.

"You too, Bruce," he replies, looking to the group. "Same goes for all of you. Take care, you guys."

He then looks back at Ashley, patting her arm before walking away from the bar with her.

* * *

"Tell me about your friends in the Frontier," Brian says as he sits down on Ashley's bunk, attempting to take both of their minds off of the incident.

"Their names are Jill and Max," she says, tucking herself into the sheet.

"I've known them for a long time."

"How long?" Brian asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Since... sixth or seventh grade?" She replies with uncertainty. "We go back to our childhoods together."

"What can you tell me about them?"

"They got married about three years ago, after I got them two talking to each other. I remember the day of their marriage; how they couldn't take their eyes off each other... Max is a pretty funny guy, and Jill is a smart girl. They just seemed good for each other at the time. What about you, Patnaude, and Fields?"

"Who, Bruce and Alex?" Brian asks.

"Yeah," she says, "You three seem inseparable. Got any history with them?"

"We're childhood friends," Brian replies. "We're like the brothers the three of us wanted. Alex is a good man, even though he can't see that sometimes because of what he did."

"What did he do?" Ashley asks, sitting up.

"I'd rather not talk about it, for his sake."

"Okay... And what about Bruce?"

"Bruce was the one kid who would back you up in any situation, be it an argument or a fight. Loves his friends as much as his family. He has a girlfriend who, at the time, he was going to propose to."

"What changed?" Ashley asks out of curiosity.

"I was the one with the bright idea that we should become pilots for the IMC; head out to the frontier, seek adventure and quite possibly fame... I was the kid who sat his lazy ass on the sofa and played video games all day. I was interested in the Titans; their designs, their movement, their strengths. I convinced them that this could be a good thing for us, so here we are."

"How come they always think we're dating?"

"I guess it's because we're always with each other in some way." Brian says, rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe it's because to them, seeing me with a girl is a rare sight for sore eyes. Never really dated anyone at all, and I don't think preschool counted."

Ashley giggles at the last comment, then yawns as she lays back in her bunk. "That's funny. You never really went out with anybody?"

"Friend-zoned the two times I even tried in high school. I never really did enjoy my school life, anyways; too much work, followed by the occasional bullshit drama and weird people you have to put up with. It was a living hell."

"...You at least had some good times in high school, right?" Ashley asks tiredly.

"Well, yeah," Brian replies, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "It had its ups and downs, like this one time I reprogrammed a Marvin to moonwalk. It was funny to watch as the robot started to moonwalk down the hallway, but when it past the guidance office, I got my ass chewed out by the administrators. It was worth the laugh to me, at least. What about you?" He looks at her, noticing that her eyes were closed. "...Ashley?" He asks. No response. He sighs, getting up and turning to the bunk. He leans forward slightly, patting her leg with his left hand as he grabs the top bunk with his right.

"Get some rest, Ashley," he says before grabbing the top bunk with his left hand and pulling himself up, into the bunk above her with a slight grunt. He lays on his back, resting his hands on his stomach as he stares at the ceiling for a good few minutes before he slowly closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep.

**"Brinkster117 Assassinated StressTester881"**

**Another FanFic! This time on an awesome next-gen game with a shitty campaign, Titanfall. Why? Because... Well, fuck it, that's why. I kinda want to make some sense with this series and add my own twist to it, so after doing some research (And playing the Campaign about four or five times over with my friend), I finally sat down and said "I want to write something about this."**

**So here it is; my first chapter that will go through the entire campaign. I know my characters, I know my shit, lets do this...**

**Oh, and for my fans who follow me for my Saints Row stories Grieving Saint and The NEMO Sensor Addon Pack, here's a little update: Sorry I died on you guys again, but I had a shit-ton of projects that came up after Thanksgiving, followed by finals. I pretty much got shot in the head and the killer threw my lifeless body down a abyss full of papers. I would have wrote, but a lot of shit got in the way; shit that stressed the hell out of me. I also wasn't in the mood to either play or write about Saints Row, as I was playing new games and old ones too. Now that I have an Xbox One, will I stop playing the 360?**

**FUCK NO. I have that console still hooked up on my entertainment center. It's messy, but I can play on both consoles just by switching the input and plugging in the Ethernet cable (they share one cable). NEMO's eight chapter does exist, and is currently being developed. I haven't forgotten about the promise I made to you guys, and I'm not giving up on you yet. You guy can expect more NEMO and Grieving in the near future. Until then, I'll see you guys soon.**

**Brinkster out.**


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